


Keep up!

by Sparklefists



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bickering, Drama Gays Being Disasters, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:35:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29346735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparklefists/pseuds/Sparklefists
Summary: It's actually very hard to blow off a god-king, especially when your secretary likes them and happily lets them into your executive office suite.
Relationships: (briefly) - Relationship, Bakura Ryou/Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23
Collections: Dark Valentines of Dimensions 2021





	Keep up!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [animorbid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/animorbid/gifts).



> It's a Valentine collection and I'm a very theme-oriented person! 
> 
> (Someone win my affections by giving me the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! for Valentines!)

“Seto!”

Atem is gratified to see Seto actually react, his head snapping up from the laptop screen to glare across his office. Atem stands inside the closed door, arms folded and glaring back. Wearing a fine, narrow black suit with a black silk shirt and a deep blue cravat.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m working,” Seto says in that irritated, half-mocking tone that pisses most people off but, unfortunately for him, Atem happens to find almost charming. “I told you I’d call you later.”

“And  _ I _ told  _ you _ that’s not good enough,” Atem snaps back. “It’s rude. We agreed to go out with Yugi and Ryou--”

“ _ You _ agreed,” Seto interrupts.

“They expect us in less than an hour,” Atem continues stubbornly. “You didn’t object when I proposed it. I told Yugi we were coming. We are not backing out.”

“Tch,” Seto answers, and returns his attention to his laptop screen. “Go by yourself.”

Atem’s ears ring and his fingers twitch, and without even considering it, he paces across the room and slams the laptop shut. 

“It’s a fucking Valentines double date, you asshole,” he shouts, his garnet eyes blazing.

“We’re not  _ dating,” _ Seto yells back, sneering, “I don’t  _ date. _ Go have fun with the two inveterate softies. Take the credit card if you like. I’ll see you tonight at 9:45 pm as per our usual arrangement. Now get the hell out of my office.”

Atem takes a deep breath before he does something worse to the laptop. Or to Seto’s fingers. Or to his arrogant, rude, gorgeous, stupid fucking face. 

“Seto,” he threatens. “Why is this important enough to me to show up at your office and shout at you?”

Something in Seto’s demeanor tightens. He hates quizzes, unless he’s getting all the answers right.

“Because you’ll do anything to make Yugi happy,” Seto answers scathingly after a brief pause. “Or maybe because you’ll do anything to annoy me,” he apparently can’t resist adding.

“Wrong,” Atem pronounces, just to watch that well-hidden hint of a flinch.

“I don’t have time for your childish games, Atem,” Seto retorts.

“Then I’ll tell you.” Atem comes around the desk and, despite himself, Seto turns his chair to face him. “It’s not about making Yugi happy. And it’s not about annoying you. I  _ want _ this. I want to dress well and go to a restaurant with you.”

Seto’s expression is tight, closed.

“Well I don’t,” he answers, clipped and curt. “Our current arrangement is satisfactory. Now, I told you to get out.”

Atem’s breath is taken away for a moment at how brazenly, callously,  _ foolishly _ cruel Seto Kaiba can be.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Atem’s voice starts challenging, but wavers, and he starts to blush, embarrassed and frustrated. 

Seto turns away sharply and opens his laptop again.

Atem takes a breath. Seto’s jaw is tight, and he’s evading. He’s trying to avoid this conversation without seeming as though he’s avoiding it. He was trying to get out of the double date without having to actually have this conversation, and now the conversation is actively happening and he’s still trying to avoid it.

“What if I want more than you want?” Atem asks, stubborn. He folds his arms again, tightly, to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing Seto. He won’t spook him. Even if he wants to shake him. “What if I do want to… to date?”

Seto’s jaw tightens further, his expression closed and stony. 

Atem sighs. 

“Don’t fuck with my feelings just because you’re unsure of yours,” he says, haughty. “If I’m going too fast for you, tell me. It isn’t a race, Seto, it’s a road we’re taking together.”

Seto’s exhale is a little heavier, not quite a huff. But it’s an admission, and Atem knows it. 

“I’m taking the credit card,” Atem continues, keying in the combination to Seto’s desk drawer to do just that. “I’ll have a drink with Yugi and Ryou and bow out of dinner. I’ll say that you were unfortunately held up at work with an urgent matter. I won’t tell them the  _ urgent matter _ is figuring the fuck out what you want from this, Seto Kaiba.” He smiles wryly, slipping the credit card into his inner pocket and stepping back. “I will see you at 9:45 pm. As per our usual arrangement.”

Seto’s lips twitch slightly, and Atem smirks. 

“There’s no one I would rather walk this road with, Seto,” he says firmly. “If you want to walk slowly, I’ll match your pace. If you need to stop, I’ll wait. My destination isn’t worth reaching, if I don’t have you by my side.”

He leaves Seto still sitting silently at his desk, his laptop still closed. 

~

It’s a dark, cold February afternoon. Whirls of snow-freckled rain catch Atem as he hurries across the street and up the stone steps to the grand entrance of the hotel. Ryou had suggested the hotel bar for a pre-dinner drink.

Atem brushes himself off with a shiver inside the door, shrugging off his heavy coat and handing it off to the concierge gratefully. 

Yugi is usually easy to spot, and Ryou, if anything, slightly easier, but it takes Atem a few moments in the bustling buzz of the crowded bar. Literally every table is occupied by a couple, except for the handful of tables occupied by two couples. Atem squares his shoulders. He can be the only lone man in the bar. For the sake of a drink with Yugi and Ryou. 

He catches sight of them in a corner, both sitting on one side of a booth-style table, and he weaves his way through the bar to them. 

Yugi has just glanced up, Atem’s hand already raised in greeting, when he realises. 

Seto stands from his seat opposite Yugi, turning to offer Atem, in quick succession, a single ruby-red rose, his hand, and a classic Seto Kaiba this-better-be-worth-it scowl. He’s wearing a crisp black suit with a white shirt and slim silver tie. 

“Atem!” Yugi smiles. “Happy Valentines!”

“Lovely to see you, Atem,” Ryou says brightly, his arm linked with Yugi’s.

“If you want to run, you better be prepared to keep up with me,” Seto says, his hand firm and tight and uncompromising.

And Atem laughs, tossing the rose on the table so he doesn’t have to let go of Seto’s hand to grab his skinny tie and drag him down by it to kiss him hard.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are even better than Valentine cards! Please leave one for me!


End file.
